The scent chip, developed by ConVisual (they may need a name update, huh?), reproduces around 100 different smells. Of course, those on the receiving end of the call will also need the chip, to decode the eau d' squawk and create its facsimile. The tech could be available as soon as 2010.

100 different smells may seem a small selection, but this is, in fact, 25% of the 400 different odor molecules the nose is capable of detecting. The brain is able to define millions of different scents within varying combinations and quantities of these 400 molecules. If the phone can reproduce even a small fraction of these combinations, how long before our callers each have their own assigned scent tones?